...are my new favorite thing. I went into Heidenheim yesterday afternoon, and while walking around, I discovered that they have a small one! Apparently it's only through this weekend, but I walked through it and it was surprisingly nice. I thought it would be kinda dinky since Heidenheim's pretty small, but they stuff was all good quality. Pretty much everything I saw I wanted to buy...good thing I didn't have that much money with me. Even without buying stuff, I love walking around these different markets, with Christmas music in the background, and the smell of Glühwein and gingerbread in the air. Normally I don't like gingerbread that much, but my mom and I got some in Munich and it was nice and soft, not hard and cold the way gingerbread usually is. And now all I can think about is getting some more. Man, I love Christmas.
Speaking of Christmas, Advent is really big here, which is kind of surprising since it really is not in America. I mean, people know what it is and stuff, but a lot of denominations don't celebrate it plus it is clearly a religious thing, so no one really talks about it. Here, every town that has any Christmas things going on advertises them as "on Dec. 16, the 3rd Sunday of Advent" or whenever it is. Advent shapes the holiday season here--little kids have Advent calendars (which really start on Dec. 1, not the first day of Advent) and Advent wreaths are everywhere. I guess that kind of makes sense though. Here Advent tends to mark the beginning of the Christmas season (no need to say "holiday season" because, let's be honest, not many Jews in Germany) while in America the holiday season "officially" begins the day after Thanksgiving.
I love how no one has objections to Christmas-themed decorations here though, because it makes everything so nice! No one gets angry when Heidenheim puts up dozens of Christmas trees throughout the town. No one writes letters to the editor about the gigantic creche set up outside the old city hall. I fully agree that in the US other religions need to have their holidays represented (although, come on--we all know Hanukkah is just there to compete with Christmas) but that doesn't mean that Christmas should be downplayed. With the exception of some Turks (I assume), most of the people who admit to observing a religion in Germany are Christian, so I imagine there's not much of an objection to decorating like crazy. Also, it looks really nice.
Here are some of the odd things I've seen in and around Christmas markets: guy standing with a llama begging for money; guy standing with a camel begging for money; guy standing with one of those small horses begging for money; sheep with the most gigantic udder I've ever seen; members of a brass quintet walking around Heidenheim, all dressed like Santa.
Speaking of Christmas, Advent is really big here, which is kind of surprising since it really is not in America. I mean, people know what it is and stuff, but a lot of denominations don't celebrate it plus it is clearly a religious thing, so no one really talks about it. Here, every town that has any Christmas things going on advertises them as "on Dec. 16, the 3rd Sunday of Advent" or whenever it is. Advent shapes the holiday season here--little kids have Advent calendars (which really start on Dec. 1, not the first day of Advent) and Advent wreaths are everywhere. I guess that kind of makes sense though. Here Advent tends to mark the beginning of the Christmas season (no need to say "holiday season" because, let's be honest, not many Jews in Germany) while in America the holiday season "officially" begins the day after Thanksgiving.
I love how no one has objections to Christmas-themed decorations here though, because it makes everything so nice! No one gets angry when Heidenheim puts up dozens of Christmas trees throughout the town. No one writes letters to the editor about the gigantic creche set up outside the old city hall. I fully agree that in the US other religions need to have their holidays represented (although, come on--we all know Hanukkah is just there to compete with Christmas) but that doesn't mean that Christmas should be downplayed. With the exception of some Turks (I assume), most of the people who admit to observing a religion in Germany are Christian, so I imagine there's not much of an objection to decorating like crazy. Also, it looks really nice.
Here are some of the odd things I've seen in and around Christmas markets: guy standing with a llama begging for money; guy standing with a camel begging for money; guy standing with one of those small horses begging for money; sheep with the most gigantic udder I've ever seen; members of a brass quintet walking around Heidenheim, all dressed like Santa.
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